When I was a kid our family watched television together... There was one TV in the house and I was the human remote control... We later had a remote that clicked up and clicked down.(I'm thinking that is where the term "clicker" came from) It is very difficult for my kids to understand or imagine that we had one TV not several and no one - I mean no one had a computer in their home and cell phones (except for the phone in Maxwell Smart's shoe...) - were not invented yet....
The shows we watched backed then were very different than they are today - married people on sitcoms were just starting to share a bed... Father Knew Best and Pa moved his family to a Little Prairie near Walnut Grove, Archie liked his chair and The Jeffersons were moving on up..... I believe the world... my world was still innocent... still family oriented... still had morals...
Today - I think TV shows confuse our kids... Shows like One Tree Hill, The Secret Life of An American Teen, and many others like that - make it look normal... desirable.. to sleep around in high school... The show confuses sex with love.... with romance...
This morning my girls and I were talking about romance... love.. I told them I still remember the most romantic night of my life.... My thirteen year old automatically thought I was talking about sex... It's funny to watch my daughter get grossed out when my husband/her dad get all lovey dovey... We will often hear comments like "Get a Room" or something like that...
Both of my girls were very surprised that my "most romantic" night did not involve sex..... I remember that night like it was yesterday... My boyfriend surprised me by taking me to the Queen Mary. We had a great time exploring this grand ship... We went into areas that we weren't suppose to... that was part of the adventure... Later we were up walking on the deck -hand in hand - talking about nothing.... talking about everything.. and we heard the song off in the distance... A Kiss is Just a Kiss.... A sigh is just a sigh..... We drew closer to the music and walked into an old fashion piano bar... He took my hand and we danced to the music... I never wanted the evening to end... That's it... that is all we did... and over twenty-two years later I still remember that night.. That to me is romance...
I want my kids to know the difference between love/romance and sex.. I believe because of society's lazy daisy view of premarital sex and the various TV shows that make it appear to mean so little..... it is up to me as the parent to to teach them.. By my faith.... by my experience.... by my honesty...
Oh, isn't Casablanca the most romantic? Sigh.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on this one. I have two boys, so we are not quite there yet (late-bloomers, thank goodness). I think the best gift we can give our kids is to show love and respect for one another in our marriages.
I love the video. Swoon.
GREAT post! You are so right. The junk our children see on TV, the internet and at the movies does not provide a good example. Thanks for taking me back to some of the romantic nights of my youth!
ReplyDeleteThese days I'm finding the importance on stressing that when my daughter does marry that she marry a man of God.
ReplyDeleteTHIS?! Is a great post!!
ReplyDeletehaving daughters I worry...
Lovely post, such a romantic memory followed by.. CASABLANCA. I smiled when I seen it there. I love Casablanca! Anyways I am worried to have daughters but you know, what can you do. Just love them and teach them the right things and pray for the best....
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